The Death of Hohenhiem
by Kittygirl109
Summary: This takes place about a month or two after the movie. Did anyone notice that Alphonse never found out about this father's death? This fanfiction reveals how I believe it would have happened. Also, a missing charater
1. Chapter 1

The Elric Brothers. The elder finally reached his height over the other, his golden optics gleaming in final satisfaction. The past two years those very eyes seemed a dull yellow, their shine and delight lost in the wind of time. Only one thing kept Edward's eyes from reaching full fire: the death of his father. Over the past month, Alphonse has been staying with Noa and his older brother. It had been so long since Ed has seen such happiness in his smile; holding nothing back, everything was right again. He had this brother back, he had his body back, he had his life back. Every meal his cheeks were flushed with pure delight. Even with the inflatuation, when all Noah could make was bread and soup, it was all "Delicous", "Great", and her personal favorite, "The best!" Just be able to share a meal. Everything was comfortable, refreshing, full of life.   
The streets of Munich were dull, the vibrant colors of Shambala seemed washed away in memories. As Edward strolled along with Alphonse down a narrow sidewalk, he wore a small smile on his lips. The air was chilled; winter was well on its way. Scanning the shops to his right and left, the older Elric looked on for "Glacier's", a small resterant on the corner of Sixth Street. There he and his brother would supposedly meet an old friend of Heidrich's and join him for dinner.

"Brother?"

"Hm?" 

Edward came to a stop, glancing at Al over his shoulder. The boys eyes were honest, as if what he were about to ask was nothing but simple directions. With a sheepish smile, he stopped as well before meeting his brother's eyes. "Have you seen dad lately? It's been a while, and I thought we should visit him now that we have the chance." Flushing a light pink, he chuckled softly. "Or are you still angry with him?"

Edward's eyes dilated, slowly misting over. As he allowed himself to take in a sharp breath, he turned heel and stomped forward.

"Come on, Al. We're gonna be late." Alphonse took on a puzzled gaze as he sighed and dashed off after his big brother.

"Brother! Where are you going? Wait up!" It was just like old times.

Glacier's was only about a block or two away. By the time the brothers reached their destination, both were out of breath. "Brother...why...?" Before Alphonse could finish his attempt to fit a sentence together between breathes, a young woman around nineteen or twenty approached the two. Her eyes were an icy-blue resembling Hendrich's, though her hair was dirty blond in contrast. Her locks were cut short, ear-length. Although her face was terriably kind, her eyes held an even mixture of mischief and sorrow. Raising an eyebrow, she snapped "You're late."

At first the boys were highly suprised to see a woman in the place of the man they pictured. Surely enough, they soon got used to it and learned her name: Audrey. Seated around a small wooden table, the three exchanged glances as though trying to decide what to make of each other. Audrey was the one to break the silence.

"...Edward, right? Alphonse told me alot about you. If memory serves, you were rocket partners...he even considered you to be a best friend. I remember when he called me up one day...the day you moved in." She chuckled softly. " 'Said you were the most stubborn mule he ever met. You wanted to do things your own way, only ate when he left the table. The first month you didn't exchange glance, much less get a word in." The young woman's face brightened, and light passed between her eyes.

"Boy, when you actually gave Al a chance, he couldn't stop talking about you. I guess were pretty close, eh?"

Edward leaned back in his chair as he listened. His eyes gained a saddened gaze, almost bitter. "...Yeah."

Glaring down at the table, he muttered "What of it? His will had your name at the top...How do you know him?" Audrey offered a weak smile in reply. "I'm his big sister. Mom and Dad passed on when we were about ten and twelve. The two of us stayed in both foster care and orpanages 'til I was sixteen. At that time...we took care of each other."

Glancing at Alphonse, she let out a sigh. "This must be _your _younger brother. He makes me feel like I'll turn around and there he'll be."

Alphonse in turn forced a smile, his attempt to break the sorrow in the air. "So he really looked like me, AND scares the same name? Wow. Would you tell me about him, please?"

"He had this knack of making people feel good about themselves, even if they did nothing to deserve it. Always smiled warmly, with those twinkling eyes...If he had a job to do, he'd do it without complaint."

Edward broke in suddenly. "He'd get angry if you got in the way, though...Had this detirmination a blind man could see. That idiot..._died _saving me. Cared about you 'til the end, Al."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:

With the help of a few kind friends betaing my work, I FINALLY got the second chapter of 'The Death of Hohenhiem' online. I was pretty picky about this one, ("I can't let people see it until it's perfect! TT It sucks, it's out of character,...I haven't written for a year, it's crap...yadda yadda."), but Elsie (who helped me the most. My main person for this chapter) not only helped me with confidence but got some crappy sentences set in place. I haven't watched FullMetal Alchemist for what seems forever, and nearly forgot what the characters really acted like in the anime version. I'm a little nervous that Alphonse is out of character, he was really tricky. But once again, I'm lucky enough to have reviewers whom seem to like my work. Thank you so much everyone!

Although Audre was kind enough, dinner was tedious, and lingered on for what seemed forever. **Neither of the brothers ate much; Edward took a few bites of his mashed potatos and steak, while Alphonse got by nibbling on a roll. **Yet in the end it was worth it somehow.

Once Audre was out of earshot, Al waved one last time before catching up to his brother. With a tired smile, he murmered "She was nice, pretty too."

"I guess...'Wonder if all that stuff she said was true?"

Once the boys got back to the apartment, they were starving. The moment Noa set the plates down, the brothers were scarfing food down like wolves that found their kill. Alphonse was a growing boy. As for Ed, well...that's Ed for you. Sounds of spoons and forks scrapping dishes filled the air. Clang! Scree, scree! Ching! Pop, scree! After finishing his soup, Alphonse paused; spoon in mid-air. "Brother?"

Edward glanced up, cheeks bulging with oatmeal. "Mmma?"

"You didn't anwser my question..."

"Mwat aestia?"

"Brother, swallow! Don't talk with your mouth full!"

Edward narrowed his eyes, but obeyed. "What question, Al?"

"About dad, brother! You can't still be avoiding him after all this time..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edward's eyes immedinatly fell on his plate as he quickly pushed it away. He may have been starving, but his brother's words made him so nautious he couldn't bare to look at the food before him.

"Finish your food, Al. It's getting cold."

"Brother! Why are you avoiding this? ...D-Did something happen?"

"I SAID FINISH YOUR FOOD!" By now, Edward was shouting at the poor boy. His eyes were wide with desperation to avoid the truth, and Alphonse was only trapping him in conflict. Bolting out of his seat, he slammed his chair against the table, quickly looking away. Avoiding eye contact, he glared at the ground.

Noa bit her lip, reaching a hand out to Edward as if wanting to stop him. But she couldn't bring herself to move or say anything, in fear he would snap.

It took Edward a moment to come to the realization that Al's chin was trembling. His brown eyes were locked on his knees, refusing to look up "...Brother..."

Noa had seen all the blood, and experienced the look on Edward's face as he fell to his knees. Still, she knew it wasn't her place to tell Alphonse .She was only in the room to comfort him, waiting for Edward to do what was needed." Slowly standing up, she placed a cool hand on Al's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, brother." The younger Elric whispered, closing his eyes. "You don't want to say it..." He swallowed hard, trying to focus on Noa's hand rather then his guilt and fear. He hated such emotions. "...Something happened to him. You lived with him two years, so this isn't about you being angry toward him. You wouldn't-!"

Edward had kept it bottled up inside, boiling...In order to prolog Alphonse's happiness in the months they had finally come to spend together. Now, it was already over. "The Thule Society..." He slowly hissed. "They were mass murderers, Al...Like people with no soul. And Dad was there...He said to send you his regards..." The words barely came out through Edward's tightly clutched teeth, as his eyes wavered in the memories. It was all replaying in his head...And he never wanted to share it with Alphonse. He wanted his father's death to be the only thing he kept to himself, knowing this was inevitable. It all leaked out at once, and each word hurt more then the last. "You had to transmute Wrath to get here...And the same had to happen to our father to go to our world...He said it's what he wanted!"

Alphonse remained frozen in his seat, completly unsure how to react. It was as if time had frozen in place. "What did you say...? He's dead...?" he croaked, his voice cracking as his glazed over eyes met Edward's. His voice began to slowly rise as he forced himself to come to grips with reality. "No, no..." He wanted so desperatly to deny it. Trembling, he nudged Noa away before standing on shaky legs. Numb as they were. The room was eerie with silence before he burst out. The words just threw themselves at Edward, before the distressed boy could even think about what he was saying. "Why didn't you tell me?!" he whimpered, unexpected tears gathering in his eyes. Glaring daggers across the room, his voice finally broke before he was shouting. "I'm his son, too! How could you keep this from your own brother?!" Before he could process what he was doing, the younger Elric gently eased away from Noa, bolting out the front door without his jacket, and into the fog.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I just wanted to thank everyone not only for the lovely reviews, but for waiting so long! I have the best readers in the world! You guys give me a reason to stop being lazy and write...so I'm giving you all hugs in my mind. Thank you. Now, I'm afraid I might not have the best chapter ever before you...and I think I could have done better. Still, I hope with all my heart you enjoy it. :D It took me alot of decision when it came to dialogue, because currently I'm only reading the manga. I have "alternate dialogue" for the last scene, if you'd like me to post it.**

As Edward stood frozen, watching Alphonse bolt out the door, guilt felt like it was choking him. When Al disapeared into the fog his face was beet red, and it had been nine years since Ed saw that expression. Every time, he had caused it. Al could have rashly screamed "I hate you!" and it would have felt the same. Why? Alphonse was the kind of sensiable, gentle boy that didn't shout or scream without an excellent reason.

To Edward, it always felt like he was that reason. Maybe Al would be better off without him...

The 'worst person in the world' kind of feeling. As these thoughts clouded the young man's mind, he almost couldn't bring himself to throw the front door open and shout "ALPHONSE! Al..." Almost. Throwing a trenchcoat over his shoulders, the older Elric knew he couldn't watch his brother disapear.

And he ALMOST stormed out of the apartment, but he was stopped in his tracks by a frail, tan hand.

Noa closed her eyes as she wandered through the blond's subconcious by touch.

"Edward." she whispered calmly, her voice the gentle breeze cutting the tension. "He's upset. It's not your fault, but you must give him some time to calm down and sort through his thoughts. If you were to go to him now, it'd only bring more tension and dispair. I believe you, too, need time to get yourself together...You can't see Al with all this running through your mind."

--------------------------------------

One skip. Two skips. Plop! Four skips.

There was a waterway dividing the apartment complexes, which ran down into the main city. A boy stood on the bridge dividing such, rocks loaded like ammo in his trembling hands. Such a boy didn't know the main city streets, and was too afraid to explore in the dark on his own.

: So Alphonse watched the water flow below him, never staying still. The way he felt now, he planned to LIVE on this bridge if he had to. Though being the true Al deep down, he knew his brother was probably worried out of his mind.

Half of him didn't care, while half wanted to go home now and stop feeling this way. It wasn't Ed's fault Dad died. No matter how you look at it, Al was Al.

Throwing rocks continuously into the water, the motion started getting faster and faster. Fewer rocks skipped, as they all plopped and sank gloomily to the bottom.

Finally, Al remembered what he ALWAYS did to calm himself down as a child, especially after a fight.

Lowering himself down after he ran out of "ammo", Al drew his knees slowly to his chest and listened to the sound of the man-made river trickle against nothingness. No one else was out, and the boy found himself completly alone. No one was coming for him.

Alphonse didn't expect hot tears to roll down his cheeks, but they did. He found himself bursting into soft, quiet sobs as he realized he would never see his father again. Just when he thought he could get to know him better...Now he and Edward didn't have either parent.

The silent streets slowly became accompanied by muffled sobs and heartbreaking sniffling. Alphonse remained curled up against the wall of the bridge much like a child whom thought his mother hated him. I'd be hard to find someone who looked more alone. Who knows how long it would have continued, if not for the outburst breaking the lonely silence? "ALPHONSE!"

The boy's head snapped up, as he ran a sleeve over his watery eyes. The shout took him by suprise, resulting in a choked up gasp. As soon as the shouting continued, it settled in. Edward was looking for him, inevitably. Although Al wanted nothing more then to be left alone, he also needed comfort. Still, time was everything - and it was just too soon.

Alphonse didn't dare move. He couldn't run away. It was dark, and he hardly knew the town. Call him a child, but he was much too scared of the dark to try finding his way on his own. As he locked his gaze on the ground, it wasn't long before he could see two feet standing in front of him. He didn't have to look up to know who it was. His brother's presense was torn in half - Edward was half a monster, half the brother he always idolized. He knew deep down, Edward probably just hid their father's death so his little brother wouldn't get hurt. Didn't he realize this hurt him so much more? How could he act like nothing happened? How could he?!

Panting. That's what broke the silence. Helpless, hard, panting racking Edward's lungs. He was odviously running full force the entire way. Running, faster and faster. Gaining speed until his little brother came into view. The whole way his thoughts must have been racing faster then his body could carry. Finally, a choked gasp sputtered out "Al..."

Just his voice was painful. 'No...don't talk to me! Don't look at me...Get me out of here, but don't talk to me...' Alphonse begged inside. Still, he couldn't speak his mind. "No..." he broke out. "You lied to me, brother! W-Why did -"

"I..didn't ...lie to you..." Edward argued, his eyes locked Alphonse. His glare cold, but painful.The pain showed up everywhere on his face. "I never told you Dad was alive, Al!"

"But you acted like he was...I asked you about him every day! You just walked away from me...Why? You thought I couldn't take it...?"

"Al..." He knew he couldn't take it. Look at him now. Crying on the floor. This was exactly what he was trying to avoid. Yet all along he knew he couldn't hide it forever. "Al, don't do this..."

"Why did they kill him?" Alphonse asked, a fresh wave of tears clouding his vision. "How could they? What did Dad ever do, brother?"

Edward didn't say anything. He couldn't explain it. There were some things in this world even Edward Elric didn't understand. Sometimes actions were more then words. Taking off his jacket, he threw it over Alphonse's shoulders. "Here - you've gotta be cold out here." he muttered sadly.

'Where was the Thule Society now?' Alphonse wondered. Shaking against his brother's trenchcoat, he knew he couldn't get let this go. Alphonse was always passive - but his father's death would be the path of change. "No..." he whispered, standing up. "I can't let it be this way!" Backing away from Edward, his thoughts raced.


End file.
